The Spaniard's Pleasurable Vengeance

“But you are still uncertain about boats.” And him.

“I think so.” But she sounded more speculative than certain.

It made him wonder if he could help her feel safe in his presence and overcome a phobia at the same time. “Perhaps I can help you change that.”

The look she gave him was blatantly considering, but tinged with hope he wasn’t sure she wanted him to see. “Maybe.”

“You’re very noncommittal.”

“Wary.”

“Ouch.”

“Are you surprised?”

“No, but I wish it was not that way.”

“Why? Why do you care?”

“Do I have to have a reason? Is it not enough that I do? Very much.” Her honesty deserved his own. No matter how uncomfortable the admission made him.

“Thank you.”

“For?” Caring? He could not stop himself.

“Being honest.”

* * *

A strange expression came over Baz’s face. “When I told you about spending the next two weeks together...” He paused, looking uncharacteristically uncertain.

“Yes? What about it?”

“You assumed it was a requirement Carlos had insisted on.”

“To make sure I didn’t go back on my word.” Like she was the one people had to worry about lying.

“There was never any doubt that you would keep your word.”

“Thanks for that, but it’s a bit late, don’t you think?”

“It was never a consideration.” His tone brooked no argument.

But that didn’t make any sense. “Then why say I had to be chaperoned like a recalcitrant teenager on a bad date?”

Basilio loosened his tie, his movement jerky. “It was not a requirement at all.” He made the fantastic admission and then waited for her reaction, his expression stoic, only a slight tic in his jaw giving away that just maybe he was a little nervous.

“What? That makes no sense.” On the verge of yelling like a harpy, Randi made a concerted effort to modulate her tone. “I’m here on this ridiculously luxurious plane with you, flying to Spain, during a crucial time for Kayla’s for Kids because I didn’t have a choice.”

He winced. “I hope that is not true.”

“Of course it is.” But was it?

Had she really agreed to this crazy trip because she felt cornered? Her conscience pricked because she knew that deep inside, where she hid feelings that she knew could hurt her, Randi had to acknowledge the truth.

She was on her way to Spain because the thought of never seeing Baz again had been ten times more terrible than the idea of spending time in his company, whatever the reason.

“I never lied to you,” he said quickly.

“You let me believe I didn’t have a choice.”

“Say rather, I did not work very hard at dissuading you.”

Had he tried at all? Her muddled brain couldn’t be sure in that moment what was real and what was not. “Why? Why mislead me again?”

“I have told you, I believe we have something special, something worth figuring out a way back to.”

He couldn’t be implying what it sounded like, but she had to be sure. “Are you saying you love me?” she asked, hearing the disbelief in her own voice.

“Romantic love is something I always promised myself I would never fall prey to.” The words sounded sure, but his tone? It sounded hollow.

“Because of how easily your dad falls in and out of love.”

Baz inclined his head in agreement. “His has been a life lesson on the subject, certainly.”

Her heart died a little at hearing those words, but love was not the main issue here. Was it? “You deceived me. Again.”

“If you consider it, you will realize I was very careful not to lie to you.”

She tried very hard to remember the conversations they’d had about the trip verbatim. “You never actually agreed with me when I assumed it was a requirement of Carl Madison’s, or when I said I had no choice about coming to Spain.”

“No, I did not.”

“But you still let me believe it.”

“When I disagreed, you disregarded my words.”

Randi should have been more angry, but she wasn’t. This time felt different. Was it because she had ignored him when he said he wasn’t her enemy? Maybe it was opening up to Basilio and having him take her part immediately. Maybe it was the fact that he had managed to convince his brother to do exactly as Basilio had promised he would. Maybe it was even the fact that he’d risked her ire to make a way for them to reconnect.

Or maybe it was just the fact that while they’d been having casual sex and friendship on the side, her heart had gotten involved.

Whatever the reason, Randi wanted Baz to make this right, to convince her she hadn’t been duped again.

“Baz...” She let her voice trail off, not sure what she wanted to say.

He took her hand again, holding it tightly in his own. “You told me very firmly you would not believe the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That regardless of whether you canceled the interview, I would make sure Carlos followed through on the things I had promised.”

She hadn’t canceled the interview until after she’d seen proof of that, but Basilio had even gotten his own PR people involved in planning and executing the best strategy for clearing Randi’s name without her having to bare her soul in front of millions of strangers. They’d video-conferenced after she’d agreed to make the trip to Spain, the very savvy PR reps asking questions that helped shape a brilliant campaign to protect her. The head of the team had mentioned that Baz had called them in the very night she’d discovered his connection to the Madisons, before Randi had agreed to give up the interview.

She wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

Unwilling to pull away from his touch again, and even more unwilling to examine why, she licked her lips nervously then admitted, “Andreas and Kayla appreciated his letters of apology more than I did.”

“You did not believe in Carlos’s sincerity.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“He is sincere, though, if not for the reason I wish it were so.” And Baz’s espresso gaze said he was, too. Sincere, that was.

“Oh, really?”

“His actions have caused me to curtail my support of his company and threaten to cut it off all together.” Baz’s implacable tone said he wasn’t kidding or exaggerating.

“But he’s your family.”

“And he acted abysmally. Would you stand up for your mother in similar circumstances?”

“I wouldn’t stand up for her at all, under any circumstances.” Randi laid her free hand on Basilio’s thigh. “But your brother has not given you reason to withdraw your support. He hasn’t hurt you or turned on you.”

At least to Randi’s knowledge. Baz was the one who had punched his brother in the face. For insulting Randi.

She didn’t know what she could or should believe right then.

“His actions against you, a compassionate, caring, honest woman, were enough to precipitate my own.”

Was he speaking the truth? And if he was, what did that mean for them?

She couldn’t trust him, her mind insisted. Only her heart wanted to believe. “And now Carl Madison is genuinely sorry because his actions had consequences he wasn’t expecting.”

“Sí.”

“That is more believable than he had a sudden change of heart.”

“One can only hope he will eventually see the error of his ways, but if he does not...” Baz paused, his expression taking on a ruthlessness she’d never actually seen directed toward herself. “He is aware the order of protection you took out against him is the least of his worries if he comes anywhere near you or a

ttempts to contact you in any way.”

“Wow.” Randi hadn’t been expecting that. “Okay.”

“I have arranged for regular visits from his children. I believe they need the influence of their Spanish family.”

“That’s pretty arrogant, but I can’t disagree. If for nothing else, his children deserve to be raised with a taste of their heritage. Just because he decided to reject it doesn’t mean they’re going to want to.” And after her experience with Kayla, Randi was particularly sensitive about the idea of withholding children from loving, decent grandparents.

Her sister’s childhood would have been so different if she’d had the support of their grandparents, like Randi had.

“I agree.” The words showed Baz was listening to her, but his focus was fixed on her lips. Again.

There was no doubt the man wanted her. Her desire for him was simmering under the surface, hard to control, even harder to hide.

Heat suffused Randi’s body and she couldn’t do a thing about it. He wanted to kiss her and she wanted that kiss. So much.

The muscles of his thigh bunched under her hand and she realized only then how dangerous that connection was. She yanked her hand away.

“Don’t.” He reached for her wrist.

“Don’t what?”

He placed her hand back on his thigh, pressing it down with his. “I like when you touch me.”